Sun, 27 May 2018
Today's episode features Zachary Greenberg of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. We discuss freedom of speech, FIRE's work to protect it on college campuses, and its importance for maintaining a liberal society.
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Sat, 19 May 2018
Phil Magness returns to the podcast to discuss the life and work of James Buchanan and to defend him against some of the more bizarre criticisms levied against him. James Buchanan was a Chicago-school economist who created the field of public choice economics along with Gordon Tullock. He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1986. Buchanan has received criticism recently from Duke historian Nancy MacLean, whose book Democracy in Chains places Buchanan at the center of a grand right-wing conspiracy to maintain segregation and undermine democratic institutions. Phil shows that the theory of Buchanan as a segregationist falls apart under scrutiny. It all stems from a typo in a footnote that erroneously placed Buchanan's article on school choice in a segregationist newspaper (the Richmond News-Leader) when in fact the article was published in the competing (and not segregationist) Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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Fri, 4 May 2018
This week's episode is a little different. There's an ongoing controversy related to a two-time guest of this show, Robin Hanson. I talk through the scandal, giving a whole decade of background so you can understand where this scandal comes from. There are many links for this episode. Here they are in the order they are discussed: Robin Hanson's books, The Age of Em and The Elephant in the Brain. "Unequal Beauty Silence" October 19, 2009 "Pretty Smart Healthy Privilege" September 26, 2014 "Inequality Talk Is About Grabbing" August 7, 2013 "Two Types of Envy" April 26, 2018
"Why Economics Is, And Should Be, Creepy" May 2, 2018 |